Back in the city after his US trip for investments, Telangana Municipal Administration and IT Minister K T Rama Rao today sprung a surprise by making an unscheduled visit to some localities of Srinagar Colony and Shahpur Nagar in Hyderabad and pulled up the officials for roads left dug up.
Expressing displeasure at the officials' apathy for the roads that were dug up for the laying of cables but not restored, he was seen castigating the officials.
He asked the officials to replicate the Delhi model of road maintenance in the city.
Speaking to mediapersons later, KTR said that he sought to have roads without potholes or uneven surfaces that caused much inconvenience to vehicle users. The government wanted to transform the city into a global destination, and there could be no room for potholes, craters and uneven surfaces on its roads, he said. Laying roads and forgetting to maintain them would not help when the rains wreaked havoc, he fumed. He had directed the officials to complete the repairs on a war-footing, he said.
KTR also instructed the forming of a joint working group of officials, and the 24 circles working in tandem to see that such negligence did not recur.
The minister asked for a high-level meeting of all department heads and officials on June 16 for preparing a plan of action to set the roads right.